Lack Of Good Analyses Contributes To The Decline Of The 'West'
What really hit me last year was the dearth of correct analyses in main stream media and in politics with regards to the war in Ukraine. Little if anything is based on facts. More than 90% of the published output is propaganda.
The 'western' plan was to draw Russia into Ukraine to then 'kill' it by economic sanctions. As Biden said when he announced those:
We have purposefully designed these sanctions to maximize the long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on the United States and our Allies.And I want to be clear: The United States is not doing this alone. For months, we’ve been building a coalition of partners representing well more than half of the global economy.
Twenty-seven members of the European Union, including France, Germany, Italy — as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and many others — to amplify the joint impact of our response.
I just spoke with the G7 leaders this morning, and we are in full and total agreement. We will limit Russia’s ability to do business in Dollars, Euros, Pounds, and Yen to be part of the global economy. We will limit their ability to do that. We are going to stunt the ability to finance and grow Rus- — the Russian military.
We’re going to impose major — and we’re going to impair their ability to compete in a high-tech 21st century economy.
We’ve already seen the impact of our actions on Russia’s currency, the Ruble, which early today hit its weakest level ever — ever in history. And the Russian stock market plunged today. The Russian government’s borrowing rate spiked by over 15 percent.
The assumptions behind these sanctions about the state of the Russian economy were completely wrong. Russia no longer had a low level economy. Yes, its GDP in dollar terms was much lower than those of most European states. But its GDP per capita measured at purchase power of the ruble was quite high. Russia's GDP also includes a much higher percentage of real production and a lower percentage of dubious 'services'. Its health care sector is 5.6% of its GDP. In the U.S. it is 16.7%, without creating a much better outcome. If one looks at Russia's production of steel, concrete and electricity per capita, things of real value, one can see that it is as much developed as other major middle income countries in Europe.
The sanctions not only failed but hit back at those who issued them. Just look at Europe's energy crisis. Due to the sanctions issued in 2014, when Russia reintegrated Crimea, it knew what was coming and had prepared for it. Within weeks the rubel went so high that the central bank intervened to lower it. 'western' companies in Russia were quickly taken over or replaced by Russian ones. Trade with China and other non-western countries grew immensely. Russia's total GDP decline in 2022 will be 2.5-2.9%, not the 20+% some western 'experts' had predicted. Some of the European countries that issued the sanctions will have a much sharper decline.
Russia was and is rich. It produces lots of food and has all the natural resources it could wish for. Its economy is mostly self sufficient. Its population is well educated. It has the military means to defend itself. How anyone thought that Russia could be brought to its knees by sanctions is beyond me.
Them came the war. In April the attempt to make peace with Kiev failed after the U.S. prevented Kiev from signing a deal. In consequence the Russia forces pulled back from Kiev. It never had had enough troops there to conquer the city. (One needs 1 soldier per ~40 inhabitants to occupy a city. Russia had only half of the needed force near Kiev.) The 'experts' called that a 'defeat' when in reality Russia had switched to a different plan that required a different disposition of force. It next took the Luhansk Oblast from Ukraine and switched to defensive tactics. The new aim was to bleed the Ukrainian forces while incurring few Russian losses.
Then came the Ukrainian attempt to take Kherson. That failed. A parallel Ukrainian attempt in the Kharkiv region was more successful as Russia had already removed most of its forces from that area. But take a map and look at the Kharkiv area that Russia 'lost'. It has little industry and no important natural resources. What is its actual value for Russia? The southern land corridor from Russia to Crimea was way more important and that is where the troops had gone.
The Kherson region west of the Dnieper turned out to be difficult to supply. The new military command wanted the 30,000 troops holding it to move elsewhere. The Russian troops moved to the east side of the Dnieper without any losses. The Ukrainian military command in that area acknowledges that it failed in its main mission:
[Maj. Gen. Andriy Kovalchuk, who was tasked with leading the Kherson counteroffensive] set out to bisect the Russian-occupied area on the west side of the Dnieper and trap the Russian forces. “My task was not only to liberate the territory,” he said. “My task from the start was to occlude and destroy the force. That is, to not let them leave or exist.”
The first task was fulfilled by Kovalchuk's successor only after the Russian forces had withdrawn from the area. The second part of the task was, despite high Ukrainian losses, left unfulfilled.
Like with the Russian pullback from Kiev the 'experts' claimed that the move east of Kharkiv as well as into the Kherson region were Ukrainian victories. From a military perspective neither qualifies as such.
Now you have BBC 'experts' predicting ways the conflict could go in 2023. There analyses of the real situation are so bad that you wonder what disinformation they are based on.
Michael Clarke, associate director of the Strategic Studies Institute, Exeter, UK
...
Both sides need a pause but the Ukrainians are better equipped and motivated to keep going, and we can expect them to maintain the pressure, at least in the Donbas.Around Kreminna and Svatove they are very close to a big breakthrough that would throw Russian forces 40 miles back to the next natural defensive line, close to where their invasion effectively began in February.
...
Andrei Piontkovsky, scientist and analyst based in Washington DCUkraine will win by restoring completely its territorial integrity by spring 2023 at the latest. Two factors are shaping this conclusion.
One is the motivation, determination and courage of the Ukrainian military and Ukrainian nation as a whole, which is unprecedented in modern war history.
The other is the fact that, after years of appeasement of a Russian dictator, the West has finally grown up to realise the magnitude of historical challenge it faces.
...
Barbara Zanchetta, Department of War Studies, King's College London
...
The costs of the war, both material and human, might break the level of commitment of the Russian political elite. The key will be inside Russia.Past wars in which miscalculation was a crucial element, such as Vietnam for United States, or Afghanistan for the Soviet Union, only ended in this way. Domestic political conditions shifted in the country that had miscalculated, making exit - either "honourable" or not - the only viable option.
...
Sadly, this will continue to be a long-protracted political, economic and military battle of resolve. And by the end of 2023 it will most probably still be ongoing.
...
Ben Hodges, former commanding general, United States Army Europe
...
By January, Ukraine could be in a position to begin the final phase of the campaign which is the liberation of Crimea.We know from history that war is a test of will and a test of logistics. When I see the determination of the Ukrainian people and soldiers, and the rapidly improving logistical situation for Ukraine, I see no other outcome but a Russian defeat.
...
David Gendelman, military expert based in Israel
...
The occupation of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions will continue but a major Russian breakthrough like a drive from the south to Pavlograd to encircle the Ukrainian forces in the Donbas is less likely.More probable is a continuation of current tactics - a slow grinding of Ukrainian forces on narrow directions and a slow advance, like in Bakhmut and Avdiivka areas, with possible same tactics in Svatove-Kreminna area.
I can confidently say that, except for a small likelihood for the very last prediction to be true for some time, all others conclusions above are delusional nonsense. They are not based on facts and numbers but on wishful thinking. They are in themselves mere propaganda. (Watch Webb Union and History Legends having fun with them.)
The delusion about the military state of the war is even worse when it comes to the political side.
Putin, unaccustomed to losing, is increasingly isolated as war falters
A new gulf is emerging between the president and much of the country’s elite
The above headline is from today's Washington Post. The unfounded basic assumption of the piece is that Russia is failing in its war. Its conclusions rest on some Carnegie 'expert' and anonymous sources in Russia. It is contradicted by the reality of the war and the results of current polls in Russia which show strong support for Putin and the government. It also ignores the fact that Russia has good relation with most of the rest of the world and that it also has powerful allies:
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed Friday to deepen their bilateral cooperation against the backdrop of Moscow’s 10-month war in Ukraine, which weathered another night of drone and rocket attacks following a massive missile bombardment.
...
Putin, during his call with Xi, noted that military cooperation has a “special place” in the relationship between their countries. He said the Kremlin aimed to “strengthen the cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and China.”Xi, in turn, said through a translator that “in the face of a difficult and far from straightforward international situation,” Beijing was ready “to increase strategic cooperation with Russia, provide each other with development opportunities, be global partners for the benefit of the peoples of our countries and in the interests of stability around the world.”
Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown stronger since Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Just last week, Moscow and Beijing held joint naval drills in the East China Sea.
China, which has promised a “no limits” friendship with Russia, has pointedly refused to criticize Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking the Kremlin, and has blasted the punishing sanctions imposed on Russia.
Russia, in turn, has strongly backed China amid the tensions with the U.S. over Taiwan.
'Increasingly isolated' seems to mean something different to the Washington Post writer than to the rest of the world.
The delusion and lack of good analyses about military and political issues is accompanied by a delusion about the economic future of the 'west'.
Here is a bit of reality:
Credit Suisse contributor Zoltan Pozsar has continued his ongoing series about Bretton Woods III where commodities will dictate the new world order. For his last dispatch of the year, he described how the world is now shifting to a multipolar order “being built not by G7 heads of state but by the ‘G7 of the East’ (the BRICS heads of state).”
...
“My sense is that the market is starting to realize that the world is going from unipolar to multipolar politically, but the market has yet to make the leap that in the emerging multipolar world order, cross-currency bases will be smaller, commodity bases will be greater, and inflation rates in the West will be higher,” the author explained.
I could go on about these issues for some time.
My feel this year was that political, economical and military issues discussed in the main stream media have parted from the objective reality more than they have done at any previous time in my life. I sometimes look into a mirror and think 'well, maybe its just you.' But it is not just me. Other analysts have come to similar conclusion. But, like me, neither of them gets quoted in main stream media and neither is paid in a traditional sense to publish on these issues.
Which, thinking of it, may well be the root of this theme.
Posted by b on December 30, 2022 at 17:50 UTC | Permalink
next page »Here in France we have our share of analysts, always the same guys, trusting TV talk shows. With this war going on, sometimes what they say is so out of touch with reality, it really boggles the mind. You wonder how far they could go down the delusional road.
Posted by: Stéphane | Dec 30 2022 18:01 utc | 2
A must-read article in today's Consortium News by Joe Lauria.
"NewsGuard gave Consortium News a red mark for “publishing false content” on Ukraine, including that there was a U.S.-backed coup in Kiev in 2014. Here is CN‘s detailed proof."
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/12/29/evidence-of-us-backed-coup-in-kiev/
Posted by: Ed | Dec 30 2022 18:02 utc | 3
Analysts (so-called), on TV and in print, are careful not to say anything that might contradict the prevailing narrative. Very few stick their necks out. I think Tucker Carlson is one of the few that does. Yes I know he gets well paid.
Posted by: dh | Dec 30 2022 18:08 utc | 5
thanks b.. your title sums it up...our conclusion at the end - its about who is getting paid the money - is on point as well.. objectivity or integrity in the corporate media is long long gone...
Posted by: james | Dec 30 2022 18:13 utc | 6
@ dh | Dec 30 2022 18:08 utc | 6
turker carlson is a rare dude... i don't follow him, but he seems more on target them the whole other lot of them.. relying on this military think tanks whether based in the uk or the usa is completely worthless..
Posted by: james | Dec 30 2022 18:15 utc | 7
Larry Johnson has a well-written little piece recently "A Pox on Pax Americana" which is worth reading. Here is some of the meat of it:
LJ: "The year 2022 will be recorded by future historians as the watershed moment when Russia took the red pill and awoke from its delusion that its could be a partner with the West. Since the break up of the former Soviet Union, Russian leaders — not just Putin — naively believed that they could be accepted as a partner in the World order controlled by the United States. Vladimir Putin, in his speech on December 21, 2022 to the collegium of the Ministry of Defense, blamed himself for believing Western promises and announced that Russia would now rely on itself and deal with the West as a hostile threat. I encourage you to watch the video. While the West tries desperately to portray Putin as a madman, the man speaking is calm, intelligent and coherent. What a contrast with the political dwarfs that populate the United States and Europe."
Political dwarfs or lack of good analysis? Probably both. They go together, don't they?
Larry provides a link to the famous scene in "Downfall" in which a belligerent and demoralized Hitler rips into his Generals.
Imagine all the G-7 leaders having such a meltdown at once and it will be so. "Splitting Image" could do a great puppet version in which all their heads explode like Cronenberg's Scanners. Such political idiocy at the highest level at some point can only be mocked as it does not deserve the honour of being criticized.
https://sonar21.com/a-pox-on-pax-americana/
Happy New Year.
Posted by: N Hanrahan | Dec 30 2022 18:16 utc | 8
“ The 'western' plan was to draw Russia into Ukraine to then 'kill' it by economic sanctions”
Very succinct. Thank you B.
Posted by: Anonymous | Dec 30 2022 18:18 utc | 9
The sanctions gambit is not that simple. It is (was) a reasonable bet that the Ruasian economy would suffer over the medium and long term in some sectors and as a a whole assuming that the larger world economy remains dominated by western currencies, means of payment and markets. The US has a near monopoly on some advanced technologies to leverage here. However since the decision was made to strike at China at the same time, an alternative economic block was all but assured as two are driven closer together, to which of course, China brings its own massive clout and core,and a cushion for Russia.
The fact that a war was opened on two fronts reeks of a desperate realization that time is running out to remain ahead while at the same time there are no obvious solutions to remove the new opponent (China). They are after all an another capitalist state working on the proven model of state supported industrial capitalism (which used to be most of the West), which is a proven and tested economic solution (unlike the Soviet command economy). The mistake was to think that Russia is China's soft underbelly, that could be punctured easily, and instead Ukraine has turned into a black hole where billions of dollars go to disappear. While this is lucrative, it works strogly against the grand strategy of concentrating on China.
Posted by: Boo | Dec 30 2022 18:18 utc | 10
@8 Carlson walks a fine line. He has to get his thoughts across in an entertaining way, nothing too highbrow, without coming across as a conspiracy nut which is the kiss of death. He has fine tuned his delivery over the years.
Posted by: dh | Dec 30 2022 18:21 utc | 11
The funniest thing about these analysts is many of them would laugh at 'Comical Ali' the Iraqi spokesman in 2003 when he used to make his confident declarations of american soldiers committing suicide in their tanks, yet they are on par with his delusions.
Posted by: Irony | Dec 30 2022 18:23 utc | 12
What bothers me the most - I am accustomed to propaganda - is that there are very few sites for analysis and discussion at a good level that are realistic and one can rely on. MoA is an exception in the sense that the commentariat is wide in political spectrum and the articles are OK. Imagine what would have happened if there was a team of journalists behind MoA with resources and expertise…
The rest of the sites are rightwing masses (like Zero Hedge that has become the sewer of the internet in the comments), conspiracist theory havens, religious-based politics, military blowhards, …. Everyone trying to monetize content.
Honestly, I see better articles in the regional paper (yes physical newspaper) then on many sites.
Posted by: alek_a | Dec 30 2022 18:26 utc | 13
Ben Hodges, former commanding general, United States Army Europe
...
By January, Ukraine could be in a position to begin the final phase of the campaign which is the liberation of Crimea.... the rapidly improving logistical situation for Ukraine, I see no other outcome but a Russian defeat.
Ho ho ho. RAOTFLMFAO !
Better be medicinal cannabis he's smoking ...
My feel this year was that political, economical and military issues discussed in the main stream media have parted from the objective reality more than they have done at any previous time in my life. I sometimes look into a mirror and think 'well, maybe its just you.'
Word!
Thank you yet again for this oasis of reason B.
Peace
This is not wishful thinking but propaganda and disinformation. For example the talk about nukes is meant to make the populous believe that Russia is losing the war and will use nukes in Ukraine out of desperation. Once people in the west really believe this, the western elite can drop a nuke, blame Russia and the populous will wholeheartedly believe this and will support the very elite that lies to them and steals from them.
Russian citizens don't read English BBC. Their propaganda and lies target you!
Posted by: Vikichka | Dec 30 2022 18:29 utc | 15
I sometimes look into a mirror and think 'well, maybe its just you.' But it is not just me. Other analysts have come to similar conclusion. But, like me, neither of them gets quoted in main stream media and neither is paid in a traditional sense to publish on these issues.
b,
It is most certainly not just you.
The reason I get my news from MoA, the Duran, Redacted, Brian Berlectic, Gonzalo Lira and Scott Ritter and not CNN, NYTimes and BBC is because these mainstream embarrassments to jounralism insult my intelligence with unbelievable garbage that causes my grey matter to ooze out through my nose when I try to make sense of it.
Someone can verify this but some of these "alternative media" youtube channels do get more viewership than the mainstream media on occasion.
That suggests that a statistically significant number do not believe the mainstream media either.
The mainstream media is mainly for those who can't pay attention to read anything more than 140 characters and hence have limited ability to reason.
Keep up the good work.
Posted by: FieryButMostPeaceful | Dec 30 2022 18:38 utc | 16
Here is a good example of 'objective' analysis from the BBC. Rosenberg managed to find some Russian women who 'bought into' the Kremlin line. You can tell Rosenberg is extremely concerned about the future of Russia.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-64129255
Posted by: dh | Dec 30 2022 18:43 utc | 17
Maybe, just maybe, once the picture of winning/weakening russia emerged as not likely, devastating europe's economy might have been plan b: after the 2n world war, the reason asa had an economic boom, was cuz European lay in ruins.. Germany lay in ruins... now the same, without allied bombers over Germany...
Posted by: slavec | Dec 30 2022 18:45 utc | 18
Sometimes those that take an interest can end up taking the media more seriously than the majority.
Don’t underestimate the majority - even without the ability/sense/awareness/whatever to accurately describe it, we feel a whole lot more reality in The Onion than any “news”.
Posted by: Rae | Dec 30 2022 18:45 utc | 19
Have there been any (credible) reports of China using its space based assets to assist Russia in Ukraine?
It seems like a given, but I haven't read articles to that effect.
Posted by: Boo | Dec 30 2022 18:46 utc | 20
"My feel this year was that political, economical and military issues discussed in the main stream media have parted from the objective reality more than they have done at any previous time in my life."
Yes, this has been a steady pattern for at least the past 20 years, but really, how is one to know the depths of propaganda when those paid to "report" are revealed again and again to be mere mouthpieces for US hegemony? Just today I read a piece in Grayzone about the level of CIA pressure in Bosnia to prevent a peace agreement in 1992. This was never written about in western news media, even ostensibly left sources.
Posted by: PeaceZLove | Dec 30 2022 18:46 utc | 21
All Analysis by the West, especially from US sources (gov, academe, media) is done through the strong filter of ideology.
It automatically is skewed. And most sources of the analysis are bastardized, heavily impacted by retro-editing.
Warped filters can never lead to a clear, cogent analysis.
Posted by: Red Ryder | Dec 30 2022 18:57 utc | 22
Have there been any (credible) reports of China using its space based assets to assist Russia in Ukraine?
It seems like a given, but I haven't read articles to that effect.Posted by: Boo | Dec 30 2022 18:46 utc | 22
It's one of those things that's easy to conceal. If Beijing is sending private emails of satellite pictures from their servers and chooses not to announce it, no one outside will ever know.
I'm inclined to think that's not the case since Russia has launched it's own satellites two months ago.
Also, it does not make sense as to why China would have satellites pointed at Ukraine.
Posted by: FieryButMostPeaceful | Dec 30 2022 18:59 utc | 23
.b, I like to thank you for your excellent comments/analyses in the past year. A lot of work and thinking. It helps me to keep my head cool amid the continous bombardment of all the anti-russian propaganda and insults from the "west". Looking forward to read them in 2023. Good wishes to all of you, regards...
Posted by: DutchZ | Dec 30 2022 18:59 utc | 24
Americans largely pay no attention to the talking heads. With the exception of Fox, the average viewership for many of the prime time shows on the cable news channels could fit in an SEC football stadium. It’s simply regurgitation of accepted “truths” by the chattering classes for the chattering classes. They don’t get on TV or get space to write an Op-ed unless they adhere to the line and since everyone they think is smart adheres to the line, they come to believe it.
One can see the disconnect when guys like Mitch McConnell solemnly declare that funding the Ukraine is the number one priority of most Republicans. Americans are seething right now. The $100 billion sent to Ukraine would amount to about $200 million for every congressional district if it were apportioned here. What roads, bridges, and electrical grids could be repaired and updated for that amount of money.
It’s coming. Not sure what “it” is, bud people are fed up. And now that the elections are seen as rigged, the only thing keeping the lid on is that Americans still have it pretty damned good.
Posted by: Totila | Dec 30 2022 19:03 utc | 25
I keep a running update of the reality of Russia's capacity to adjust to trade blockade here:
https://www.lauriemeadows.info/conflict_security/The-West's-Apartheid-Trading-System.html
Objectively, the West is creating 2 blocs, an apartheid economic bloc into which they would try to place Russia (and later China), and the rest of the world.
But the rest of the world will not accept cutting it's own throat.
How foolish the so-called brilliant minds of the Western 1% ers are.
Posted by: Powerandpeople | Dec 30 2022 19:03 utc | 26
My feel this year was that political, economical and military issues discussed in the main stream media have parted from the objective reality more than they have done at any previous time in my life. I sometimes look into a mirror and think 'well, maybe its just you.' But it is not just me.This article is quite correct and spot on, and therefore very important. The west has become completely and utterly delusional. The delusions are not limited to political, economical and military issues, however. Science (or - make that 'Science') has become completely delusional as well, exemplified by the covid and climate scams which have no basis in reality. And I don't think it even ends there, the madness is everywhere now.
We are living in an age were the west has completely lost contact with reality. We are lead by psychopaths and governed by imbeciles. The result is entirely predictable, it will be downfall similar to the Third Reich.
Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 30 2022 19:04 utc | 27
@PeaceZLove Its not just that the politics have degraded, practically everything has. It's the funkopocalypse, as Jay Dyer put it.
https://youtu.be/pARS-HYpd6M
Infantilization is rampant everywhere.
Posted by: Boo | Dec 30 2022 19:11 utc | 28
The "experts" are all careerists who understand that they are a crucial part of the propaganda offensive, their role is to create the impression that they agree with the government and media after subjecting its conclusions to rigorous critical analysis.
Which is very funny.
They are also comforted by the knowledge than none of them ever gets sacked when reality exposes their dishonesty.
They justify themselves by subscribing to an ideology which justifies any means to protect those in whose power they trust to protect them from the discomforts of independence.
As to the strategy it was not that "..anyone thought that Russia could be brought to its knees by sanctions.." but that sanctions, wrapped in frightening propaganda prophesying defeat and disgrace, would be enough to produce a coup in Moscow/Tehran and or Beijing.
Imperialist policy is all about coups- its opponents are constantly subjected to the threat of coups, all of which are based upon a spurious misuse of the ideas of democracy and free expression.
Comments, yesterday, focused on the Baltic and NATO's attempts to turn it into a lake under imperial control. None, that I saw, reflected on the obvious fact that the Caribbean is just as important to the Empire as either of the Baltic or Black seas are to Russia. Or that, in any list of countries whose people are repressed and longing for change allies of the Empire are more likely to figure than friends of Russia or China.
In other words the strategy of the Empire and the tactics of subversion are very easily turned around on the NATO bloc. And the propaganda that they employ against the targets of their coup plots serves to prepare the minds of their own population, legitimising a violent response to, for example, declining living standards, energy rationing and unemployment.
The current strategy of the Empire to surround its opponents with bases and missile launch sites is doomed in the long run: the places to be surrounded outnumber the forces attempting to encircle them. And the technological gap between the two sides can no longer be counted on to favour the tiny, incestuous 'elites' who, largely through apathy and indifference, rule over the (nine carat) Golden Billion.
The only glue holding the empire together is that of a military system which is now obsolete- armies in Latin America and Europe, Africa and Asian countries-the best examples being Pakistan and Jordan- whose role is to follow the US Ambassador's orders.
Posted by: bevin | Dec 30 2022 19:14 utc | 29
Understand that the talking heads and most of the msm is aimed squarely at DC and it's sattelites. Those are the crazies sucking that stuff up.
Posted by: me | Dec 30 2022 19:15 utc | 30
Boo @30
funkopocalypse.....I've got to nick that !
Posted by: AleaJactaEst | Dec 30 2022 19:21 utc | 31
Cui bono? Are they getting paid for such bad analysis? Are they contracted to put out BS?
Mirror mirror on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all? Why b, of course. Thanks b. Keep looking into that mirror.
Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | Dec 30 2022 19:22 utc | 32
Great summary of the situation. If you take a step back and consider this year, and what Putin said at the outset of the SMO,and reread those comments today, it will now be clear that this entire series of events has been a layered project. The immediate and obvious layer are of course those objectives Putin declared in February after the West blew off, entirely, his proposals in late 2021 - Ukraine neutrality, protection of the Russians in eastern Ukraine, demilitarization, and denazification. And, possibly, had the West allowed Zelensky to work out a cease fire last March with Putin, these might have been the immediate ends achieved. But, overlaying all this, is the bigger issue, an enormous issue, made clear by the fact that Putin and Xi of China met at the Olympics and declared a near treaty and alliance, which suggests that the SMO has become the vehicle to expose the Western system as nothing more than a continuation of over 400 years of colonial and imperialistic taking of resources and riches from the rest of the world. Look at the current situation clearly - Europe faces economic collapse, the United States is being exposed as unable to support the industrial elements needed to conduct a real war, Russia is showing the entire world it is, among all great powers, the power most independent, most secure in energy and resources and human capital, and China is being shown as vulnerable, needing energy supplies and unable to continue its rapid growth if the Western markets collapse.
In my opinion, Russia is going to become the leading Great Power of the 21st Century, and as this becomes clearer and clearer then the risks rise ever higher that, in desperation, the West will use nuclear weapons. This may be upon us within days, actually. Just today there are reports of US soldiers in Ukraine, in uniform, even, advising. Putin now calls this a war, not a special military operation, surely a war with the West and NATO.
What is becoming ever more clear, surely since the Soviet Union fell in 1990, is how savage, how militaristic, how destructive the US based Western system has become (and always has been, for over 400 years).
I am afraid to say this, but it may be that the only way to thread this needle between Russian victory and a nuclear ash cloud is if the Russian forces in this winter offensive cause a sudden collapse of the Ukrainian forces, everywhere, such that the collapse of Ukraine is clear to everyone before greater NATO involvement occurs. And it is not at all clear how the Western cognitive dissonance once this defeat becomes obvious will play out. Not well, I fear.
Posted by: Boomheist | Dec 30 2022 19:26 utc | 33
Posted by: Vikichka | Dec 30 2022 18:29 utc | 16
so agree. the west is back to covert ways to continue to grow the seed in the minds of its consumers that russia will deploy some kind of nuke in ukraine bc it is desperate and will react to escalation (apparently a recent Rand analysis chimed in to make it official).
if the west can get away with such a false flag, they will. they want it. i'm putting my faith and prayers in enough other powers quietly letting the u.s. know that it's over--they cannot get away with it.
although it seems the u.s. masses are quietly going to their possible destruction, the row is not. even biden said that europe did not want ww3. let's hope that holds until we have to accept a new world, one where we have to ramp down our military.
it is so sad and enraging that these people and the davos and wef crowd are truly anti-life and have been for a while. they see us as useless eaters and our pain, whether in war or hunger or disease, is even desired, in the name of their true god, money, the bull, the false idol.
i am so very glad i can come here and breath deeply, unafraid of my words, such a big part of me i keep hidden, for the most.
Posted by: polarbear4 | Dec 30 2022 19:28 utc | 34
Thanks for the posting b
The ongoing volume of propaganda on top of propaganda continues like Wag The Dog movie reruns.
The shit show continues until it doesn't and I hope that is soon
Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 30 2022 19:32 utc | 35
It's the battle of competing narratives. When this is all over, one side is going to be massively embarrassed.
Posted by: ian | Dec 30 2022 19:44 utc | 36
Two important things to note here. First is the extraordinarily high percentage of Americans I see who unthinkingly have assimilated the propaganda and repeat it as truth. In their defense, perhaps, the propaganda is all the coverage there is for most everyone here in regular news sources. Gen-Z, from the little I've dealt with them on the issue, are instead propagandized through Youtube garbage they watch, which, from what I can tell, is probably more successfully propagandized than the mainstream press is. The propagandizing has been extraordinarily effective-either that or there is something being put in the water here.
Second is how unintelligent and downright cowardly the commentary from the US academy is. They, same as your average joe/jill, repeat what they are told by the newsmedia. There is something very wrong with the US intelligentsia (insofar as there is any, least of all in academia) that it regurgitates the party line the way it does. Such events as the major state flagship university in my backyard has hosted on Ukraine all stank of this regurgitation. I doubt it is any different anywhere else in the US. You would think the academicians would have realized by now that their doing the same for the past 20 years of US war abroad didn't quite turn out as they were saying it would, and perhaps they should reconsider doing the same thing again with this war. Nope, no sign of that.
Question for readers in Europe and elsewhere is if things are any different in your parts. Love to hear honest firsthand reports.
Posted by: Daniel N. White | Dec 30 2022 19:46 utc | 37
Thanks B. Great summary of the real situation. Someone at consortium news coined the term 'psyopcracy' to describe the US led #EmpireOfLies. I couldn't agree more with this moniker. This country is broken. And the rest of the west is breaking right along with it. Good essay on Reality: https://consortiumnews.com/2022/12/29/weve-reached-peak-zelensky-now-what/
Posted by: ZimInSeattle | Dec 30 2022 19:56 utc | 38
Russia is quite relaxed about the sanctions, so much so that it has just agreed to allow Kazakh oil to be piped to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline. No doubt it will be sold at a high price because there's no longer any of the Russian oil that was previously piped. That will keep prices on the international market high, so Russia has little to worry about and will collect transit fees anyway.
Posted by: Brendan | Dec 30 2022 19:58 utc | 39
The US now lives in a hermetically sealed glass bubble that doubles as a giant echo chamber. The Ukraine narratives are bounced back and forth inside the bubble, completely untethered from reality. And b is right, it's never been as bad as this. The Democrats, once outraged by Bush's invasion and the evil Cheney, did a 180 once Trump became president. Trump derangement syndrome was epidemic, and Democrats made common cause with the Republican never-Trumpers, who were all neocons, and suddenly that did not bother the Dems at all. And of course, Russia was to blame for the election loss of their beloved Hills, certainly not her holiness, and to suggest otherwise or to point out that a nuclear war with Russia was perhaps an outcome to be avoided, was to ask to get stoned, in the Old Testament sense. The capper for me was when I got an email from Robert Reich, making the case for a president Liz Cheney. Seriously, Liz f__king Cheney. Both parties have entered into a suicide pact. If only the bloodshed could be limited just to them.
Posted by: Mike R | Dec 30 2022 20:04 utc | 40
Norwegian @ 29:
You ought to watch Jay Ayer's Funkopopalypse rant that Boo put up @ 30. You may not need to watch all 14 minutes of it but just enough to know that Ayer is complaining about American culture becoming more infantile, and how this infantilisation is even changing people physically so they end up resembling giant babies smelling of poop.
It seems that like most mainstream culture generally, politics, economics and military issues, and their analysis, are also becoming more infantile. Even here at MoA, comments threads take detours away from the topic at hand b/c someone, usually a troll, makes a statement or expresses an opinion based on assumptions or stereotypes that have no basis in reality or are lacking in context (historical, scientific, political, economic). Any kind of critical thinking is absent and the statement or opinion expressed looks like it has been regurgitated from countless sources all referencing one another.
It is as if, confronted with what is real or what currently exists, Western elites go into a flight of fantasy and expect everyone else to do the same. Hence all our mass media, including MSM news media, our educational institutions and all other institutions the general public is expected to look up to, must obey elite diktat. Culture, in films, art, literature (even children's fiction seems more interesting and complex than what passes for adult fiction, though it too is becoming more strongly segregated and stereotyped by genre) and music, is being reduced to a level where it becomes virtually non-existent. And of course it is becoming more politicised as well, in various ways: how else to explain the plethora of British dramas and even comedies set in an idealised 1930s or 1950s, or the abundance of US action thrillers and superhero flicks where violence and wiping out the opposition are preferred over compromise and negotiation?
Posted by: Jen | Dec 30 2022 20:08 utc | 41
I find it very curious that the people controlling the west have taken so many decisions to weaken their populations and economies in the name of putting sanctions on Russia and advancing US interests.
Posted by: Kaiama | Dec 30 2022 20:09 utc | 42
@b
Wake up and smell the coffee…
Governments haven’t delivered on policy to make the lives of their electorate better for at least a decade. Probably two decades.
It’s ALL propaganda, propaganda, propaganda, and nothing but propaganda.
There is no substance behind the mask so the mask must be protected at all costs.
Posted by: PalmaSailor | Dec 30 2022 20:14 utc | 43
RE:Sakineh Bagoom | Dec 30 2022 19:22 utc | 34
"Are they getting paid for such bad analysis? Are they contracted to put out BS?"
Yes and I feel that these people genuinely believe it. Also a narrative has been established and going against it is forbidden, while parroting and affirming it gets you protected an promoted, even when the evidence contradicts the narrative to any intelligent observer who has not drunk the Kool-Aid. Nobody is allowed to say that the emperor is stark naked
All societies do this, The Soviet Union did this a lot, but privately Soviet adults joked about the crap that was put out. Unfortunately the West is massive on narrative confirmation but not so much on critical analysis and questioning.
Posted by: Aslangeo | Dec 30 2022 20:15 utc | 44
First they tell lies,
then they double down on the lies,
when that fails they find a scapegoat,
then a new crisis emerges and the process begins again.
Posted by: Autonomous | Dec 30 2022 20:21 utc | 45
Seems to me there's two things never get a mention and they should so I'll mention them:
1. The war needs to stop immediately and everyone should be doing all they can to bring that about and publicising the truths is something we could all lend a hand to.
2. The war, the whole world situation, is actually clearly a problem with the stupidity, sloth, intertia and disinterest of the Western masses at its root and therefore we all shout be lending a hand to do something about that. As with #1.
We could throw in another. It has all been evidenced throughout the covid years:
3. Even the few commenters, such as this one, who do point to these imperatives actually do little or nothing themselves which of itself highlights and underlines the importance, the deep significance of these factors.
We should perhaps wear miniature fiddles in our lapels, have fiddle icons as our email signatures, our avatars: signifying we know what's going on but find fiddling more satisfying than trying to influence or alter events...
If they were numbered I'd claim #1.
@Jen | Dec 30 2022 20:08 utc | 43
Thanks for the response. I believe your description all too well. Not sure I need to see it in more detail. I would rather like to see something that would begin to reverse the madness.
Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 30 2022 20:24 utc | 47
Posted by: polarbear4 | Dec 30 2022 19:28 utc | 36
Of course WEF is anti-life.
Jesus said this 2000 years ago:
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
So you have on the one hand the people who tell lies and destroy life. There is absolute no doubt whom they serve.
On the other hand, you have the people who tell the truth and protect life, even at the cost of their own.
When cought in between, in face of this utter madness, it is easy to lose it, get angry or desperate and lose the clear path.
"In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost."
But we can find refuge in remembering that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And follow that way.
Posted by: Vikichka | Dec 30 2022 20:30 utc | 48
Posted by: Aslangeo 46
They are not only getting paid for bad analyses, but after events (reality) shows that they were completely wrong, they will go on getting paid for bad analyses, which they will continue to produce.
Posted by: Mike R | Dec 30 2022 20:31 utc | 49
There's apparently a very well oiled system in the USA for instantly removing from the public arena any valid 'intelligentsia'. As soon as such a specimen appears it is removed.
I am reminded of Prof John Ioannidis who laid out in 2019 the truth of the covid thing and was studiously ignored and marginalised from that moment on.
The truth was simple, the truth was clear, the truth was plain and the truth called for no panic, no extreme measures, no loss of trade, no restriction of democratic or human rights.
the truth was willingly and enthusiastically ignored from that moment on up to and including today where the oppressive measures are still apparent and now enshrined in law and we see the lamentable and sad sight of our peers wandering through the shopping malls wearing masks in the vain hope of protecting themselves from toxic contamination by the presence of other human beings.
This incredible level of total stupidity leaves one gob smacked and totally astounded and confounded, bewitched, buggered and bewildered with nothing to do but wear a fiddle and turn inward.....
And hope for a new regime, an influx of a new kind of humanity, with some intelligence, dignity, zest for truth.... but sadly what we read of events in russia, our main hope, seems to indicate that it at this stage can only be a hope, far from a certainty...
Posted by: dh | Dec 30 2022 18:21 utc | 12:
@8 Carlson walks a fine line. He has to get his thoughts across in an entertaining way, nothing too highbrow, without coming across as a conspiracy nut which is the kiss of death. He has fine-tuned his delivery over the years.
Carlson was allowed to walk a fine line, because current sentiments of his target audiences remain mostly brainwashed and Carlson's walk isn't considered a danger to change that status quo. If Carlson's rhetoric began to circulate in parties and dinner tables, I bet you he'd either change his tune or he'll take a loooooong vacation and disappear from the screen.
Murdoch likes to ride the fence. As long as the ride doesn't hurt his business, he enjoys the luxury of being right one way or the other at no financial nor reputational costs. A weasel act that he and his likes are good at. Even NYT/WaPo at times drop some truth tibits on pages 3 or 4 just for this purpose.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 30 2022 20:34 utc | 51
Bernhard
My feel this year was that political, economical and military issues discussed in the main stream media have parted from the objective reality more than they have done at any previous time in my life.
It's not lack of good analyses but the need to fake.
Are we immune to buy it and fall in line? Not so sure....
As Norwegian wrote in #29
The delusions are not limited to political, economical and military issues, however. Science (or - make that 'Science') has become completely delusional as well, exemplified by the covid and climate scams which have no basis in reality.
"Qui utilise qui? Et d'où vient l'argent ?...Who is using whom? And where does the money come from?
It's even not new.
1840, Honoré de Balzac,
"Les illusions perdues"
« — Vous tenez donc à ce que vous écrivez ? lui dit Vernou d’un air railleur. Mais nous sommes des marchands de phrases, et nous vivons de notre commerce. Quand vous voudrez faire une grande et belle œuvre, un livre enfin, vous pourrez y jeter vos pensées, votre âme, vous y attacher, le défendre ; mais des articles lus aujourd’hui, oubliés demain, ça ne vaut à mes yeux que ce qu’on les paye. Si vous mettez de l’importance à de pareilles stupidités, vous ferez donc le signe de la croix et vous invoquerez l’Esprit saint pour écrire un prospectus !
Machine translation
Do you care about what you write?" said Vernou with a mocking air. But we are merchants of sentences, and we live from our trade. When you want to do a great and beautiful work, a book at last, you can throw your thoughts and your soul into it, attach yourself to it, defend it; but articles read today, forgotten tomorrow, are only worth in my eyes what you pay for them. If you put importance on such stupidities, you will make the sign of the cross and you will invoke the Holy Spirit to write a leaflet!
Posted by: La Bastille | Dec 30 2022 20:40 utc | 52
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 30 2022 20:34 utc | 53
Yep. Some 20 years ago people wondered why Alex Jones was allowed when his peers were silenced. Speculations were that maybe he's controlled opposition or that maybe he's not that of a danger. Fast forward 20 years and they silenced him.
Posted by: Vikichka | Dec 30 2022 20:47 utc | 53
For sources offering good analysis see my Usually Recommended News Sources.
Posted by: Hermit | Dec 30 2022 20:50 utc | 54
Posted by: Boo | Dec 30 2022 18:46 utc | 22:
The Russia/China cooperation is at the strategic and geopolitical level. Its main feature is that Russia doesn't have to fear shortages of necessities/finances supplies, nor military threats. These cooperations don't have to give layman audiences the impression that China is supplying fighter jets or loaning money or sending voluntary troops. They don't need to hype their cooperations to please netizen fans, such as you.
As long as Russia feels comfortable in progressing along the line of actions that it has decided to pursue, it means the cooperation is effective. Let them G7/EU/NATO/5-eyes/QUAD/whatever cheer and sneer at the lack of cooperation all they want. They don't know the rug is being pulled from underneath their feet. The ROW sees what's happening though, and that's why the political center of gravity is shifting conspicuously these days. Did you see the differences in receptions of Biden in Xi in Arabia???
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 30 2022 20:51 utc | 55
@ Aslangeo | Dec 30 2022 20:15 utc | 46
Well, unfortunately we don't have carbon, hand copied or unregistered typewriters to produce Samizdat, nor covert book club circles re distribution. ;)
And the level of critical thinking & sound education has been on the decline for at least four decades. 'Awareness' is minimal. b's MoA though has certainly functioned as a digital samizdat of sorts.
Let me add my thanks to you, b, for plowing through all the bullshit every day and serving up a little bit of actual factual analysis, news, sanity. Cut through the bullshit a ittle. I too have wondered if I was the only sane one in my circle of acquaintences, or if I was in the grips of some kind of psycosis. Which side of the mirror am I on? It surely bust be taxing to your mental health, but I for one really appreciate your perserveence. Thanks again.
Posted by: c | Dec 30 2022 20:56 utc | 57
Seems the West has invested too much in controlling perceptions and didn't understand it makes it much harder to keep track of reality.
Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Dec 30 2022 20:57 utc | 58
Yep. Some 20 years ago people wondered why Alex Jones was allowed when his peers were silenced. Speculations were that maybe he's controlled opposition or that maybe he's not that of a danger. Fast forward 20 years and they silenced him.Posted by: Vikichka | Dec 30 2022 20:47 utc | 55
Maybe he was tired of playing the role and they mutually agreed that his contract was up. The BS lawsuits were just the catalyst to sell his retirement to his following.
Alex Jones was obviously acting as some kind combination of lightening rod, honeypot and controlled opposition. His followers are now tainted by association.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 30 2022 20:57 utc | 59
ANYONE, or NATION, who is willing to play along with the empire's economic "hit job" on Russia, is a complete "ass-hole".
Period, full stop!!!
Posted by: vetinLA | Dec 30 2022 21:00 utc | 60
@Boo, #22:
I forgot to address the issue of space tech support for Russia that you raised. If China does that now, it means they have shed their neutrality and become a participant in the war. They wouldn't do that for now, openly. But Beidou and Glasnost are linked, much more intimately so than Beidou/GPS or Beidou/Galileo. Who's to say China isn't actually supplying info to Russia clandestinely?
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 30 2022 21:01 utc | 61
"The Democrats, once outraged by Bush's invasion and the evil Cheney, "
No, they weren't. Nearly every Dem (Hitlery, Biden, et al.) voted to give W the authority to do whatever he wanted after 9/11, and though a few might have made hypocritical noises later, nobody ever seriously tried to end the wars, or even slow the flood of taxpayer money being poured into the endless pits of Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's just more manufactured nonsense meant for domestic consumption.
"Carlson was allowed to walk a fine line, because current sentiments of his target audiences remain mostly brainwashed and Carlson's walk isn't considered a danger to change that status quo. "
Exactly. If ever he strays just enough on the wrong side of that fence, or more likely, some "right-wing extremism" can be tied, however tenuously, to something he says, he'll be banjaxed in a New York minute.
Posted by: Big Balinese Wheel M | Dec 30 2022 21:02 utc | 62
It is a brilliant strategy to keep a war going in Ukraine to force the enemy to waste their resources u til they no longer pose a threat.
Even if one were to attack Taiwan. Well done, China! Perhaps, one day, when Russia miraculously doesn't run out chips and other components to build an endless supply of rockets and drones, even those clever "intelligence services" in Britain and the US might figure out what's really happening...
Posted by: Marvin | Dec 30 2022 21:05 utc | 63
If russia says Nato is fighting it, they'll have to cut those supply lines and fortify. They'll need to blow the dams down the dnieper and destabilize the nuke plants. People will howl, but if it's life or death why not?
Burn bahkmut to the ground. If they ukraine uses hostages, shoot through them. Where's the thermobarics that would burn out the fortification? The chemical weapons to kill everything? Cluster bomb every square inch around donetsk. Any structure that can conceal weapon platforms must be wrecked. When in spring agent orange the forests. Make it a desert and call it peace.
Until they make the necessary moves to satisfy the war God, ukraine will have the advantage due to their better implementation of war.
And they will deserve victory.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Dec 30 2022 21:08 utc | 64
@Tuyzentfloot | Dec 30 2022 20:57 utc | 60
Seems the West has invested too much in controlling perceptions and didn't understand it makes it much harder to keep track of reality.This is indeed true. They have invested everything into controlling perceptions and are now themselves unable to separate reality from propaganda. This is how you become not agreement capable.
Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 30 2022 21:11 utc | 65
Well, Bernard, can I inform you that in Australia your 90% MSM propaganda estimate is wrong.
There are NO MSM in which provide anything other than a pro Ukrainian narrative. I recall that in the lead up to Feb 24, information providing the explanation for Russian concerns in Ukraine were provided in one piece by a prominent journalist in a major print broadsheet and by one ex Australian diplomat interviewed on the national broadcaster. Since Feb 24 there has been no neutral or balanced reporting of the conflict. For example, over a period of several months, I am yet to see one report of Ukrainian shelling of civilian areas in Donetsk ( indeed, one participant who mentioned the death toll of civilians in Eastern Ukraine since 2014 in a televised debate on the national television broadcaster was ejected from the panel for making those comments!) , while we are saturated with coverage of results of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine which are presented as aimed at the civilian population.
I am old enough to remember the Vietnam war. Even though Australia was an allied combatant of the US , there were articles regularly appearing which explained the Northern Vietnamese position in the conflict, showing how editorial policy (which supported the Australian Government position until very late in the war) did not have to agree with a position to report it.
MSM now is, by wilfully neglecting its responsibility to report objectively, an arm of the Foreign Policy establishment.
Posted by: Andrusha | Dec 30 2022 21:12 utc | 66
@53 "....Carlson's walk isn't considered a danger.."
I'll agree that he's probably ineffectual. I think he believes what he's saying but he needs to get some congress critturs to back him up or he's just another entertainer.
Posted by: dh | Dec 30 2022 21:12 utc | 67
Do you love the smell of cheese in the morning?
Well who does?
haha
Happy new years eve everyone! :)
Posted by: Macpott | Dec 30 2022 21:29 utc | 68
Bastille - 54
Balzac is absolutely savage with the newspapers in Illusions Perdues, it's just amazing to see that he saw it as totally and irredeemably corrupt nearly 2 centuries ago.
"Tout journal est une boutique où l’on vend au public des paroles de la couleur dont il les veut. S’il existait un journal des bossus, il prouverait soir et matin la beauté, la bonté, la nécessité des bossus. Un journal n’est plus fait pour éclairer, mais pour flatter les opinions. Ainsi, tous les journaux seront dans un temps donné, lâches, hypocrites, infâmes, menteurs, assassins ; ils tueront les idées, les systèmes, les hommes, et fleuriront par cela même."
As translated in Project Gutenberg:
"Every newspaper, as Blondet says, is a shop to which people come for opinions of the right shade. If there were a paper for hunchbacks, it would set forth plainly, morning and evening, in its columns, the beauty, the utility, and necessity of deformity. A newspaper is not supposed to enlighten its readers, but to supply them with congenial opinions. Give any newspaper time enough, and it will be base, hypocritical, shameless, and treacherous; the periodical press will be the death of ideas, systems, and individuals; nay, it will flourish upon their decay."
Posted by: Clueles Joe | Dec 30 2022 21:31 utc | 69
@ b
as usual hitting it out of the park:
The sanctions not only failed but hit back at those who issued them. Just look at Europe's energy crisis. Due to the sanctions issued in 2014, when Russia reintegrated Crimea, it knew what was coming and had prepared for it.
And it's face-saving time...as the sanctions hurt. Are your fingers and toes frost-bitten little johnny?
Taken from mine @ 338 in the previous post:
The G7's Russia Oil and Gas price caps are known to have failed. An idiotic idea from the get-go.
Hmmm, here comes that old repacking trick to workaround and face-save on sanctions; blessed by US Treasury and G7.
EU countries can keep the lights on and smart middlemen and gals will laugh all the way to their bank:
Ms. Janet Yellen announced today:
US Won't Consider Petroleum to Be of Russian Origin Once It is Transformed in Another Jurisdiction
Sputniknews
Link
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russian petroleum products will no longer be considered to be of Russian origin and subject to the price cap once they are transformed in another jurisdiction, the US Treasury announced on Friday."Once Russian petroleum products or Russian oil are substantially transformed (e.g., subjected to any of the refining processes listed below) in a jurisdiction other than the Russian Federation, they are no longer considered to be of Russian Federation origin, and thus the price cap no longer applies," the Treasury said.
The Treasury also said it does not consider blending operations, like gasoline or crude blending to be substantial transformation for the purposes of the crude oil determination.[.]
The Kremlin has the last laugh. A hearty one.
The collective west does not think through potential policy bites-back. Russia's budget is based on oil at US$45/bbl.
Well you see, Insurers and Ship owners must have screamed in Janet's ears... likely told her "you can't possible be serious that we will meekly stand by and watch while we are excluded from profits...once again you underestimated Putin, Modi and Xi"
Posted by: Likklemore | Dec 30 2022 21:33 utc | 70
As for myself, I think experience is showing, among other things, that US Constitutional improvements (Amendments) are indicated, to increase military, social, economic, and political stability in the direction of clearer recognition and calmer participation in the order of nations. I’ll be experimenting with these improvements in the coming months.
Posted by: The Rev. David R. Gr | Dec 30 2022 21:40 utc | 71
I think I'm seeing important cracks in the alliance in America that props up the deeply flawed narrative that Ukraine and Zelenskyy represent an Army of Light, and that the AOL has Russia on the ropes.
That alliance had some structural weaknesses from the beginning, and they are fault lines that some of the important cracks are developing from. A very important one is that fundamentally this is Democrat President Biden's war, albeit he has Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, John McCain's partner in warmongering, on his side. That it's Graham who's the frontman for the Republicans, and not a Trump surrogate, is important, and worth remembering.
Dovetailing with it being Democrat President Joe Biden's war is the whole fiasco of Hunter Biden, who famously got paid a lot of money from Burisma, in Ukraine. That precipitated Trump's phone call to Ukraine, which was later used as one of the excuses to impeach him. Remember that, as Trump loyalists certainly do, and they think of Ukraine's government as being very suspect.
Then, as mentioned, there is Tucker Carlson, who appeals to a wide range of demographics, far more than just Trump voters. More young people watch him than CNN or MSNBC, so too more Democrats than either. There is also Tulsi Gabbard of course, who has now guest hosted his show twice, and her friend (yes, they are friends) Glenn Greenwald, who became prominent among Democrats for helping to expose the sins of the Bush administration's use of warmongering. And now there is the comedian/commentator Jimmy Dore, who relentlessly bashes the unholy way that America set up the Nazi backed coalition in Ukraine to provoke a conflict with Russia.
In short, you have a solid chunk of Republicans who despise Biden's waste of lives and money in a doomed effort against Russia (possibly because they resent not concentrating on China), and there's a solid chunk of true anti Forever War progressives who will call out America's cynical machinations with Ukraine for what they are. This represents a large and diverse group that can't be intimidated into not saying "I told you so!" as the warmongers plans for Ukraine keep running into roadblocks and experiencing failures.
There is just no way to put enough lipstick on the pig of a hundred billion dollars getting spent on Ukraine instead of getting spent on America. Republicans resent the money not getting spent on border security, fighting crime, the infrastructure, and lowering taxes and the national debt, Progressives resent the money not getting spent on lowering taxes for the 99%, creating jobs by investing in infrastructure work, and improving the lot of those worst off.
In New York City this weekend there is an anti-war rally, one that Jimmy Dore helped advertise, that promotes itself as being an alliance of Sanders voters, Trump voters, third party voters, and everyone else who can't be categorized.
Biden has already had his armor cracked open because of the humiliating way that America left Afghanistan. And now the Republicans in the House will spend all year torturing "the Big Guy" for the revelations found in Hunter Biden's laptop, some of which bolster our knowledge of how big a scam his working for a Ukrainian outfit was.
Biden is on record calling Hunter the smartest guy he knows, and that smartest guy recorded video of himself dealing with complaints from the very young, heavily accented, sex worker who might have been a victim of sex trafficking.
Hunter Biden's baby mama, the former dancer at an adult club, is now filing with the courts over various matters, and has been calling out Hunter for his history of not revealing his finances. She is filing to get their daughter's last name changed to Biden.
Those last details could be categorized as being just sordid tidbits, but they'll serve well as additional grist for the mill, the mill that keeps churning along and which provides more and more evidence of Biden's lies and corruption, as well as his ineptness and declining faculties. America's support for the continued financing of Ukraine is, imo, tightly tied to the fate of the Biden administration. If it loses the confidence and good will of the voters, a whole lot of the administration's baggage is going to get loose. That's just how power works, and the powerful in America who see themself as having invested in the Democrats (as well as the Republicans) won't allow that investment to become devalued. They'll insist that steps be taken to restore its popularity, and to maintain its influence, so it can keep providing the expected returns to its investors.
Posted by: Babel-17 | Dec 30 2022 21:50 utc | 72
fyi
G. Doctorow just published some interesting remarks on the war in the Ukraine, the Russian population and economic reactions to the 'sanctions from hell' :):)
...and the new very strong relationship with China etc etc
Doctorow is perhaps the only commentator that I know of who regularly watches & reports on the Russian media (well, I guess J. Helmer does some of the same too). He and his wife also have an apartment in St. Petersburg and so he gives much insight into life there too
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2022/12/30/the-new-free-world/
"....I was obliged to remark that the greater issue since the launch of the “Special Military Operation” has been the emergence of a Russian ‘superiority complex’ based on scorn for the gutless leaders of Western Europe as shown by their committing economic suicide to suit their overlords in Washington....
Meanwhile other panelists on the Solovyov show pointed to further proofs that the American century is over. As we know, China filed a suit in the WTO claiming that the United States has grossly violated WTO rules by imposing its embargo on export of state of the art semiconductors and related technologies to China. We were told last night that 126 members of the WTO have supported the Chinese position. What the Kremlin now expects is for the U.S. to effectively shut down the WTO, removing one of the important global institutions by which it has enforced its ‘rules-based order.’....."
Posted by: michaelj72 | Dec 30 2022 21:59 utc | 73
So the world's, most capitalist reinforcing country now decides that it is perfectly OK to sabotage any other country's economy and its people's wellbeing for its own interests.
Maybe I am old fashioned but I call that a disgrace. Imagine if ordinary citizens did the same instead of just standard competition. If I have a business then it is perfectly OK to destroy, sabotage, bad mouth my competitors in the media, kill the owners, blow up there equipment, form a coalition of haters against them, steal there goods and money, stop the banks from letting them trade or get loans - in fact it's only normal competition according to Biden et al. This is a corrupt and degenerate leadership working against the interests of the rest of the world. America must be stopped. It's not Russia or China that is the problem it's the fascists neocons in the US.
Posted by: George | Dec 30 2022 22:05 utc | 74
Norweigian @29.
"Science (or - make that 'Science') has become completely delusional as well, exemplified by the covid and climate scams which have no basis in reality"
Why do you have to pollute the conversation with such idiotic incredulous comments ? Scams??
Posted by: Green Hammer | Dec 30 2022 22:07 utc | 75
They've bled themselves dry taking pot shots at Russia and everyone knows it. Now it's just a matter of acknowledging the emperor has no clothes. It's like the old cartoon where one is swinging wildly while being held at arms length by the other. The Elephant in the Room is Iran. If things go full hot with Iran, what's left of the Petro-Dollar will be toxic. Europe will at some point descend into so much chaos, that even the empire will be unable to do much other than pay people not to shoot at them, ala Iraq. Not looking good when those at the top in the west are so devoid of meaningful accountability.
Posted by: liveload | Dec 30 2022 22:09 utc | 76
I keep seeing asides about a Ukrainian assault on Kreminna, not confirmed on any of the current maps - where fighting seems well to the west now around Dibrova and Torske. B. allows it some credence... How so?
Posted by: Gerry Bell | Dec 30 2022 22:11 utc | 77
A couple of days ago with the latest Russian missile attack, MSM shortly presented it as "Russia launched another missile attack and 56 of 69 were shot down". Then on to other news. The way they presented the whole thing was very pre-scripted. They used to mock North Korea, now they've themselves become the joke.
Remember they have been jawboning since early March that the missiles ran out. And just a month ago were still doing it. That propaganda dropped out. But the 56 out of 69 or whatever is easier to produce since no one can verify anything, so just run with that. Why not?
They have very little actual combat reports from the front. They still come from ISW, or "British intelligence", or Ukrainian "officials" which are presented as 100% face value, without questioning.
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 30 2022 22:14 utc | 78
It's not just you. MSM has basically lost all sense of shame and any deference to logic. It is all about the company line, all the time.
Biden:
"And I want to be clear: The United States is not doing this alone. For months, we’ve been building a coalition of partners representing well more than half of the global economy." They are more like a coalition of squid puppets performing for the world's biggest bully.
How did you do that Joe Biden? Blackmail? More threats of sanctions and economic ruin on countries, or the infamous CIA envelopes: choose between one full of money, or the one with a bullet in it?
Posted by: George | Dec 30 2022 22:25 utc | 80
b: "One needs 1 soldier per ~40 inhabitants to occupy a city."
I have serious problems with these sorts of figures. It depends on what one means by "occupy" (or "Conquer") a city. The overall discussion is usually referred to as "stability operations" - maintaining civil order and the orderly transition of government to military control and hence to a new civil government.
A note I found elsewhere says the following:
The historical data suggests 5 to 50 troops per 1,000 inhabitants. That would mean 14,500 to 145,000 troops for your fictional city. By comparison, the NYPD has 55,000 police for 8,500,000 inhabitants, or 6.5 police per 1,000 inhabitants, which serves as a reality check on the COIN data. Counterinsurgency ranges from "ordinary" numbers of police to "ten times ordinary" numbers.
Discussing the issue of a shortfall of troops in Iraq is here:
A Proven Formula for How Many Troops We Need
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2004/05/09/a-proven-formula-for-how-many-troops-we-need/5c6dbfc9-33f8-4648-bd07-40d244a1daa4/
When Germany surrendered in May 1945, the U.S. Army had more than 1.6 million men within the borders of the defeated Nazi state. Overnight they became occupation troops: Their orders were to spread out over every square mile of German territory and demonstrate without a doubt that they were in charge. U.S. troops secured every road junction, bridge, border post, government building, factory, bank, warehouse; anything of the slightest conceivable importance had a guard of GIs around it, and so did a good many things of little or no importance, too.Army plans called for an occupation force of some 400,000 in the American zone for the first 18 months -- or one U.S. soldier for every 40 Germans.
When NATO forces went into Kosovo in 1999, they followed the same proven formula: 50,000 troops for a population of 2 million, one soldier for every 40 inhabitants. A recent Rand Corp. study by military analyst James Quinlivan concluded that the bare minimum ratio to provide security for the inhabitants of an occupied territory, let alone deal with an active insurgency, is one to 50.
This is undoubtedly where b gets his figures.
Note this sentence, however:
Their orders were to spread out over every square mile of German territory and demonstrate without a doubt that they were in charge. U.S. troops secured every road junction, bridge, border post, government building, factory, bank, warehouse; anything of the slightest conceivable importance had a guard of GIs around it, and so did a good many things of little or no importance, too.
Do you really need to do that to control a city? I think not. In fact, an argument can be made that they more you shove your soldiers in the citizens' faces and control their every action, the more resentment you create against your occupation. This is a natural human reaction to foreign occupation, and we've seen that in every single US occupation and indeed many foreign nation occupations of other nations.
First, who are the inhabitants of your city? Are they a tribal society where everyone is born with an AK-47 and an RPG-7 in their cribs? Or are they soft Europeans with little history of insurgency in modern times?
Second, what are your goals in controlling the environment? Do you need to worry about serious insurgency - people blowing up your tanks with antitank weapons, sniping your soldiers, blowing up your HQ? Or do you just need to control a few strategic points like water, power, armories and main government buildings with records of importance?
Third, what is you disposition of forces? Have you dispersed them all over hell (like the US in Germany as mentioned) in an attempt to control every street corner, like the US did in Berlin in WWII or in Iraq? Or are your forces concentrated in sufficient strength that it would take a battalion tactical group with armor and artillery support to make a dent in them?
I saw a video from Iraq of a US soldier guarding a post through the view of the sniper scope by an Iraqi sniper. The US soldier is standing around like he had a sign on him saying, "I'm a moronic US soldier! Shoot me!" This is what happens when you disperse your troops all over hell.
Fourth, what is your military goal? Are you trying to capture a bunch of insurgents like in Fallujah or Aleppo? Or are you just trying to grab the members of the government and their local security services?
Fifth, what is your political goal? Are you trying to overthrow a government? Or are you trying to seize the resources of the city? Are you trying to exert control directly over the population in terms of their behavior?
Sixth, what is the perception of the citizens towards your forces? Do they hate you? Do they not care? What is the percentage of each?
Seventh, what is the military capability of any remaining opposing forces inside the city?
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered before you assume any given number of troops will be needed to "control" or "occupy" a given city.
There is also the question of providing security and rule of law for the inhabitants, not allowing them to be preyed on by criminals in the absence of the regular police. Usually this can be handled by simply continuing to use the existing police force, but under your military control.
I submit that a Russian military force of say, 150,000 could easily control a city of 1-2 million Ukrainians provided they kept their forces dispersed in a manner which made each unit a real problem for anyone to attack, had a rapid reaction force which could reinforce any unit that got into trouble, and any Ukrainian forces previously in the city who might be motivated to resist were already pretty much decimated.
Also note that the occupation of Kosovo, an area of two million, were only occupied by 50,000 troops. Kiev before the war had 3 million. Reportedly this has been reduced to a third of that as the war progressed. So could 50,000 Russia troops occupy Kiev? Quite possible. 150,000 certainly could.
Civilians are not the problem - combatants are the problem. It all depends on who are your potential combatants, what are they armed with, how organized are they, and what is their number relative to your own, and how you have organized your control of the city.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 30 2022 22:28 utc | 81
they got completely blindsided by the response of the global south.
the ex colonies can see where this is going (neo-colonialism) and clearly want no part of it. So the moral victory bit became somewhat contentious. Also that they basically had to black list and shadow ban a huge number of commenters on YT, FB etc means the cat is out the bag, no one except the choir believes the sermon now.
the NATO leaders have no options. If any leader shows any ambivalence there will be a palace coup within 24 hours. None of the NATO leaders have any popular support. They enjoy their office at the pleasure of the neocons, and they know it. If they are out, they will be as relevant as the communist ex leaders of the communist bloc.
Whichever bloc loses this war will have a high price to pay. Which is why I say that NATO will launch nuclear strike. The US has quietly added first strike options to its nuclear policy.
Posted by: nothing but the trut | Dec 30 2022 22:30 utc | 82
Posted by: abrogard | Dec 30 2022 20:22 utc | 48
Here is my fiddle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jrKXf2G-AA
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 30 2022 22:35 utc | 83
Tucker has been a media personality for more than 25 years. His persona began as "bow tie boy". Boy Tie Boy was far right looney tunes. Ergo, the point I am making is that he is "controlled". He is playing a different role as a gadfly. He's obviously not a dummy, as he can stay on task and still ad lib. He also happens to be a very wealthy Swanson Frozen Foods heir. He's raking it in from both Fox and his family food business.
That said, I concur with the opinions expressed by Oriental Voice and Big Balinese Wheel M.
I might add that no one can determine the "sincerity" of any tv clown. Especially given that they are millionaire "presstitutes".
Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Dec 30 2022 22:38 utc | 84
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 30 2022 20:34 utc | 53
The joke is on anyone and everyone who thinks Carlson is any different than the pro-Democratic Party ruling class mouth pieces in the MSM. It is easy to speak truth to power (or some variation to that theme) when your boss does not support the party in power.
It's all a game to create the allusion that the American voter has some kind of choice, because after all we are a democracy; right? I will be impressed by Tucker Carlson when after the Republicans come into power in 2024, he continues to speak truth to power.
Posted by: Ed | Dec 30 2022 22:41 utc | 85
To: Oriental Voice | Dec 30 2022 20:34 utc | 53
Yep. Some 20 years ago people wondered why Alex Jones ...
Speculations were that maybe he's controlled opposition ... Fast forward 20 years and they...
---
... finally gave us the proof he is indeed controlled opposition.
Yep.
Posted by: C | Dec 30 2022 22:42 utc | 86
Thanks B, I enjoy reading your thoughts and analyses. You are right I think. Happy New Year too.
Posted by: Clifton | Dec 30 2022 22:44 utc | 87
Norwegian #29
Thankfully the imbeciles that pretend to lead us are vulnerable to being overwhelmed by failure.
An example at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJv1IPNZQao
"Dr John Christy, distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, has been a compelling voice on the other side of the climate change debate for decades. Christy, a self-proclaimed “climate nerd”, developed an unwavering desire to understand weather and climate at the tender age of 10, and remains as devoted to understanding the climate system to this day. By using data sets built from scratch, Christy, with other scientists including NASA scientist Roy Spencer, have been testing the theories generated by climate models to see how well they hold up to reality. Their findings? On average, the latest models for the deep layer of the atmosphere are warming about twice too fast, presenting a deeply flawed and unrealistic representation of the actual climate. In this long-form interview, Christy – who receives no funding from the fossil fuel industry – provides data-substantiated clarity on a host of issues, further refuting the climate crisis narrative."
Fifty minutes and a calm rational interview packed with science.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 30 2022 22:47 utc | 88
Norweigian @29."Science (or - make that 'Science') has become completely delusional as well, exemplified by the covid and climate scams which have no basis in reality"
Why do you have to pollute the conversation with such idiotic incredulous comments ? Scams??
Posted by: Green Hammer | Dec 30 2022 22:07 utc | 77
Yes, making huge profits on the back of dubious propagandized science is the perfect example of a scam. Full stop.
scam [skăm] noun A fraudulent business scheme; a swindle.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 30 2022 22:48 utc | 89
"Parfois, je me regarde dans un miroir et je me dis " eh bien, peut-être que c'est juste moi ". Mais ce n'est pas seulement moi. "
Parfois, c'est très difficile de voir autour de soi et de sentir qu'on est seul à voir.
Vous êtes quelqu'un de remarquable, "b" est je pense que vous devez vous sentir aussi seul que entouré.
Bonne fête de fin d'année
Posted by: moderato cantabile | Dec 30 2022 22:53 utc | 90
Martyanov's post today refers to this post by b.
b should realize that the reason the analysis in the West is so bad is precisely what Martyanov has been ranting about since forever. A recent example:
As I already stated many times--the last one being yesterday--average US "journo" from establishment media in the US is semi-literate moron. Some of those morons have Ph.Ds in "journalism" and "communications", others--in political pseudo-science. In other words, using Dunning-Kruger model--it is impossible to explain to most people who graduated all kinds of such "programs", and those who teach those, from the average Western university, that they are ignorant because they are ignorant. They do not know real history, especially of the 20th century, neither do most professors who teach it, they do not understand real economy and how it operates, they have zero clue about real warfare. As the result, despite my, and others, warning since 2013-14 about the US not understanding what it is getting itself into with Ukraine, most military-political-media and business top brass in the US wanted... to kill Russians and destroy Russia.Now, as I am also on record--no American servicemen ever fought real large, including modern combined arms, war against very serious, sometimes superior, enemy in defense of his (her) home, period. Russians do it for 1000+ years. Because of that, even when you are well-educated and experienced American soldier, it is still very difficult, not impossible, though, to grasp the intricacies of real war economy, especially when you have been taught "economics" as is taught in the West. Get any top RAND honcho (probably former general) talk to Russian counterpart and you can easily observe how this RAND guy will melt away when faced with substantive issues of arsenals for serious war. Emphasis on "serious". And this is just one example. In other words, American military experiences do not apply to Russia in general. Hence, even when having proper information, many in the US analytical orgs, let alone such toilet paper as NYT fail to grasp basic facts. They do not have skills.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 30 2022 22:58 utc | 91
@ Oriental Voice | Dec 30 2022 21:01 utc | 63
Who's to say China isn't actually supplying info to Russia clandestinely?
Valid, yet easily overlooked point.
@ moderato cantabile | Dec 30 2022 22:53 utc | 92 - Translated:
"Sometimes I look in the mirror and think, 'well, maybe it's just me. But it's not just me. "
Sometimes it's really hard to see around you and feel like you're the only one seeing.
You are a remarkable person, "b" is I think you must feel as alone as you are surrounded.
Happy New Year's Eve
Scott Ritter on:
Adam Kinzinger, the Quintessential American Idiot
https://www.scottritterextra.com/p/adam-kinzinger-the-quintessential?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
While Kinzinger may have some passing familiarity with NATO operations in Afghanistan, he knows absolutely nothing when it comes to NATO’s ability to wage large-scale ground combat in Europe, if for no other reason than Kinzinger has no experience with large-scale ground combat in any context.Ukraine and Russia have been waging large-scale ground combat for 10 months now. That’s 10 months longer than any NATO military in the past two decades. The reality is most NATO militaries would not be able to sustain themselves over the course of three days of sustained large-scale ground combat, let alone prevailing against an opponent as large and capable as Russia.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 30 2022 23:02 utc | 93
Yes, making huge profits on the back of dubious propagandized science is the perfect example of a scam. Full stop.
scam [skăm] noun A fraudulent business scheme; a swindle.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 30 2022 22:48 utc | 91
you mean like the fossil fuel companies. except they don't bother with the science part since that bit them on the ass. even in their own private studies. you want a good example of the decline of Science in the west, the fossil fuel industry propaganda campaign is as good as any, demonstrating the corruption and incompetence of our leaders.
and it's not just "the West".
https://www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-statement-addressing-the-climate-crisis/
https://ru.usembassy.gov/u-s-russia-joint-statement-addressing-the-climate-challenge/
Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 30 2022 23:08 utc | 94
Tuyzentfloot @ 60
Seems the West has invested too much in controlling perceptions and didn't understand it makes it much harder to keep track of reality.
Worthy observation, worthy of quoting. But, I'll note if they can't manufacture 100% consent they'll settle for 50% consent and 50% confusion.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 30 2022 23:08 utc | 95
fwiw i don't see any blue Ukrainian flags on houses or building anymore--which makes me wonder how Americans will react when the war really starts costing them. will they make the connection?
Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 30 2022 23:16 utc | 96
Norweigian @29.
"Science (or - make that 'Science') has become completely delusional as well, exemplified by the covid and climate scams which have no basis in reality"
I agree.
Science is not based on “consensus”. There was a “consensus” that the world was flat. That “consensus” was wrong.
Posted by: Augustus Caesar | Dec 30 2022 23:21 utc | 97
The phenomena you describe is not new and did not develop overnight.
My experience/observations: As a senior policy analyst in 2008 in a $5B/yr corp I saw the requirements for sound financial analysis turned on its head. When government turned on the financial taps, it was no longer fiscal prudence that was required, but reverse financial engineering to achieve the results management mandated - to distribute all the 'new' money required to solve every financial problem.
Senior people whose career were based on providing correct, prudent and factual analysis were now faced with losing a career of credibility to meet the 'new' management demands (fudge or obfuscate things) or look elsewhere for places that still valued credibility and factual analysis. Many lacked enthusiasm for the new post 2008 world and drifted off, were forced out or retired early - to be replaced by new people who were selected for their malleability in providing analysis that supported 'an end-result' with little regard for accepted methods or logical math.
So like 'Journalists' who now write the words(narrative) they get paid for.......an 'Analyst' does the analysis that leads to the outcome that they get paid to prove. Reality is, what you can get people to believe.
So this is were we are today - everything and anything is possible to engineer - just ask SBF!!!!!!!
Money printing since 2008 to solve every problem has lead to the fact that everybody and everything can be bought -credibility has no value anymore- tell them what you desire and you shall get the analysis to prove whatever the desire of today is!
Tomorrow, you can have proof for a different desire - no problem!
Our entire society in closing on a reality that is completely contrived ....... we are living in a fantasy that only requires information and/or a narrative that people can/will/chose to 'BELIEVE'.
Until ........the money printing stops or the printing velocity cannot keep up!
Posted by: James Cook | Dec 30 2022 23:22 utc | 98
Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 30 2022 23:16 utc | 98
The US will need to give them the M1A Abrams or other tanks very soon or it's over. They also need to give F-15/F-16 jets.
Or unless they intend ukies are going to fight without tanks and fighter jets all together, because that's what's going to happen. We'll see how it goes.
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 30 2022 23:23 utc | 99
b, and a large part of the MOA barflies have as usual got the year right. Thanks all.
I feel that there is an element missing though some have probably discerned it.
The ‘concept’ of the US as Imperial Power dropping from its zenith.
It’s obvious that its ‘century’ is over as is its currency as a ‘reserve’ that the worlds trade relies on.
Neither of these are ‘unexpected’ in terms of previous empires over the last half millennium or so. All the Europeans took turns! The terms that each held hegemony are equivalent; they percolated into the massive North and South Americas and created the USA as it exists.
There is a constant though throughout isn’t there?
It’s the Great Old Banks and the ‘Aristos’ from all parts of Old Europe and their share in the US. Show me that is not correct.
So there is an element of pantomime about the end of this Imperial Dream too.
I think the Old Saw is valid still - Follow The Money.
If the Old Money is percolating to the next cave , keeping its influence alive in the next hundred years Power it should be Of Concern - should it not?
We will not escape until they are diminished.
The panto season is upon us and we are played by not just the msm but the cultural churches of our day , the fairytales of cinema and tv and computer games and social media as we always were. Where subconscious monsters of the Id are created and these beliefs are made to last. As exist in the peoples - servants and slaves - of the European Peoples. Most of whom are not , live and die in their historical superiority.
Of course Russia will win. Of course China will ally with them in common security. Of course the other Old Targets of every Imperial Dream will mostly side aginst the Old Slavers. But the Old Imperialists will leave an indelible racism against all of the new winners. That seems to be the goal of the pantomime.
Just my musings when I too stare at the ‘mirror’ trying to make sense of it.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Dec 30 2022 23:33 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
May god grow food in your garden.
That all the bar people abstain from anger.
And we all be true to our comments.
Posted by: Matties | Dec 30 2022 17:57 utc | 1